Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Top 10 albums of the 2000s

Given that the decade is nearly over, I've decided to share with you my top 10 albums of the decade. This list is of course heavily biased towards albums I've been into recently, and I've avoided the tiny bands that no one reading this would have access to.

1. Radiohead- Kid A (2001)

This followup to OK Computer which can easily be listed among the best albums of all time is my pick for the best album of the decade. It's hard to say exactly what genre Radiohead is a part of other then "alternative rock" which is really a catch-all, and can only be described as "Frickin Awesome". This album is best listened to as an album, as like many classic albums the tracks sort of blend into each other. My favorite songs off this album are Idioteque-> Morning Bell. I was however disappointed with the version of Motion Picture Soundtrack they chose to include on this album, as I thought it was overly produced.

2. Beck - Guero/ Guerolito (2005)

Beck is another one of my favorite artists, and Guero is one of his best albums. But what is even better than Guero is Guerolito, which includes all the songs of Guero remixed to even greater awesomeness. My particular favorites are the remix of Girl and Que Ondo Guero.

3. Radiohead- In Rainbows (2007)

You can probably tell I'm a big Radiohead fan. When they came out with Hail to the Thief I was a bit disappointed- although that album has some great songs, most of them were..not as great. But In Rainbows definitely made up for it. My favorite In Rainbows songs are 15 step, Nude and Videotape. Bonus: They did an awesome live video recording of their songs from this album (along with some weird band stuff that bands like to do) here that I highly recommend.

5. Sleater-Kinney- All hands on the bad one (2000)

Ahh, the feminist punk movement, how I miss you. This album reminds me of playing diablo 2, and was one of my favorite albums when I was a wee baby feminist in college, just discovering that some music was about how awesome women are! My favorite tracks are #1 Must Have, which brings up my righteous feminist rage, and Ballad of a Ladyman, which should be my theme song. Sample lyrics: I could be demure like/ girls who are soft for/ boys who are fearful of /getting an earful / but I gotta rock! / I'd rather be a ladyman!

6. Franz Ferdinand- Tonight (2008)

You might know the song "No you girls" off this album, which was popularized via an ipod commercial when this album first came out. The album is chock full of classicly awesome songs, my favorite being Ulysess, What She Came For and Bite Hard. There's also an album of remixes, and I really like the remix of No You Girls and Lucid Dreams.

7. Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes (2008)

This is a new indie band that has recently arrived on the indie band scene. They have kinda a Simon and Garfunkel/CSNY sound to them, with lots of harmonies and some epic lyrics. My favorite song is White Winter Hymnal and Blue Ridge Mountains. You can see an awesome live performance of them here.

8. Phish- Joy (2009)

No studio work of Phish can ever come close to the awesomeness of their live performances, but Joy is a pretty great album nonetheless. Stealing time from the faulty plan is one of my favorite songs off this album, but I gotta say- the recorded version plays it a little slower then they play it live, and I like the live version better. Time turns elastic is a great track, as is Twenty Years Later

9. Arcade Fire- Funeral (2004)

Another album that the genre is hard to pin down, this album can only be described as "epic" and "haunting." Particular favorites include Neighborhood #3: Power out, Neighborhood #4: Kettles and Rebellion(Lies)

10. Danger Mouse - The Gray Album (2004)/ The Beatles- Love (2006) / Easy Star All Stars- Radiodread (2006)

Technically none of these are original albums, which is why they are sharing the 10th place.

The Gray Album is a mashup album of Jay Z's The Black Album and the Beatles The White Album. It sounds bad on paper, but it's actually a great and oddly compelling album. I don't think you can actually buy this album legally though, it used to be only available over the internet. My favorite tracks are Encore (Which samples Savoy Truffle and Glass Onion) and Allure (Samples Dear Prudence).

The Beatles- Love is also a mashup- this was an album put together by the Cirque De Soleil people, who mashup Beatles songs with other Beatles songs (or sometimes with other versions of the same song), for their Beatles show. I never saw the show, but the soundtrack is awesome- I believe they had access to the original masters and it was produced by George Martin, who produced the original Beatles albums. If you are as huge of a beatles fan as I am, this album will mess with your mind and blow you away. My favorite tracks are Drive my Car/The word/ What are you doing,
Strawberry fields forever, and Come Together/ Dear Prudence

Easy Star All stars- Radiodread is a cover album of Radiohead's Ok Computer that records the album in Dub Reggae. The first time I heard this album was at the Gathering of the Vibes Festival in 2006 while drinking a mojito, and I remember saying "This album is like my mojito...you have some limes and some mint, and you think they won't taste good together, but they actually taste great together, just in a weird way." Mind you, that was my third mojito.

So there you have it. Soon to come: Top 10 movies of the 2000s.

9 comments:

  1. How could the 0's be over????

    I am so freakin' old!

    Part of me still thinks it's the 80s!

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  2. I remember new years 1990...it was a big deal. I slept through new years 2000 though, it was on a friday night and I still lived with my parents, so had to keep shabbas.

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  3. "Kid-A" would also be in my top 10. Though how come no one ever mentions green day?

    Also the new lady gaga deserves some credit (Kidding, this whole "ra ra ra ra" thing is hurting my ears!!)

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  4. NOP- I was really into green day around 8th grade, but I haven't heard any of their newer stuff. Come to think of it, I haven't heard the lady gaga music either, except for brief excerpts on infomania (my favorite obscure tv show).

    I don't ever listen to the radio cause I don't really drive anywhere, and most of what is popular is not actually good music, so I'm not very up to date on mainstream music. I'm an expert on the local jam band scene though. :)

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  5. Well your right about modern music (Which is basically pop , R&B, and rap) though Bon Jovi is still kicking, an his latest "We weren't Born to Follow" is awesome. There is rumors Ozzy is cooking up something good.

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  6. I love that you included Guero from Beck. So many people did not like that album as much as some of his others but I loved it.

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  7. Have I mentioned that you have the musical taste of counter-cultured hipster? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

    As long as you can take my muddy waters, Eric Clapton, and Nina Simone, I'll still respect you.

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  8. my brain- sometime I think i might be a hipster and not even know it. :) but then I remember that I'm not living off of a trust fund and I have no sense of fashion, lol :)

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